easy oven baked brown rice

First off I want you to know that my kids are totally obsessed with this rice, like licking their plates clean obsessed. It’s 6:00 am on Friday and I’m baking them a fresh batch for their lunches and pairing it with some leftover chicken thighs and mushrooms.

I posted this below picture on Instagram yesterday, exclaiming how excited I get about perfectly baked brown rice and Zoe saw it on her way home, ran inside and said, “where’s the rice mom, I have to try it?” She tried it and exclaimed “its delicious mom, this is exactly how brown rice should taste!” Eli was literally licking his plate last night saying “this rice is SO good mom.” Gosh, I didn’t know my kids loved rice this much. I’m not joking here, my kid’s get excited over such simple things as rice, and that’s pretty awesome! This is honestly the perfect and easiest way to cook rice. I know you can do it on the stove top, but my rice never turns out right, it’s either too goopy, sticky, hard or crunchy, and sticks to the pan, making for a yucky clean up. Plus with the stove top method, you have to keep checking the rice, with this oven method, you set the timer (1 hour) and just walk away, pretty awesome!

When I bake my rice in the oven, it comes out fluffy, light and perfectly cooked, and even slides out of the pan easily! The rice is nutty, chewy and has a hint of sweet buttery flavor from the coconut oil. Perfection!

easy oven baked brown rice:

Note: Feel free to double the below recipe if you’re serving more people, or want more rice, and use a larger glass baking dish.

1 cup short or medium grain brown rice or brown basmati, sorted and rinsed – You can use any type of brown rice here, I used short grain.

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock, broth or water – I usually use either chicken stock or broth

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon unrefined coconut oil

Pre heat your oven to 375 degrees.

Bring the stock to a boil in a saucepan.

Place the rice on the bottom of the baking dish making sure to make it level. Top the rice with the sea salt and coconut oil.When the stock comes to a boil, pour it over the rice.Quickly cover the baking dish tightly with a layer of parchment paper and then aluminum foil. Make sure that it’s a tight fit, as you want the rice to steam, and if it’s not tight then the stock will evaporate.

Note: You can just use aluminum foil to cover your rice, but as I said in an earlier post, aluminum foil is known to leach aluminum into food, so it’s best to use a layer of parchment as a barrier when cooking with aluminum foil. I know the foil isn’t touching the rice here, but there will condensation which can drop from the foil into the rice. In my opinion it’s better to be safe than sorry, but that’s just me being anal, so it’s really up to you!Bake the covered rice in the pre heated 375 degree oven on the middle rack for exactly 1 HOUR! Do not check the rice, just set your timer for 1 hour and walk away. Pull the rice out of the oven, remove the parchment and foil, fluff the rice up with a fork and serve it up!

It will cook up perfectly if you followed the above instructions. I’ve done this method 10 times and my rice cooks up perfectly every time! That’s why I LOVE it so much!Note: I tried baking the rice in my large dutch oven with a layer of parchment paper in-between the lid and the pan, and it turned out ok, but not as good as using the smaller glass baking dish. The rice wasn’t as fluffy. If you use an oven proof pan, make sure to use one with a tight-fitting lid.

Note: You can also use Ghee or Olive oil in place of the coconut oil. I just love the flavor the coconut oil give to the rice! Yum!

Note: If you use white rice, you will have to check it at 50-55 minutes, as white rice cooks faster than brown rice.We use this rice to make weeknight burritos or burrito bowls.

Top the rice and beans on a tortilla along with some cheese and cilantro, pop it under the broiler to heat up, and voila, you have an easy weeknight burrito! Feel free to top it all off with some guacamole or salsa! Yum!Making a batch of rice is great, as you have leftovers throughout the week. See, I really use leftovers! Here’s the lunch I’m packing for school today. Leftover rosemary skillet chicken, oven baked brown rice and fall roasted vegetables! Leftovers really do make great lunches!

special equipment: 8-inch square glass baking dish parchment paper and aluminum foil Note: Feel free to double the below recipe if you're serving more people or want more rice and use a larger glass baking dish.

Author: Marin mama cooks

Recipe type: side dish

Cuisine: rice

Serves: 2 cups

Ingredients

1 cup short or medium grain brown rice or brown basmati, sorted and rinsed - You can use any type of brown rice here, I used short grain.

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock, broth or water - I usually use either chicken stock or broth

½ teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon unrefined coconut oil

Instructions

Pre heat your oven to 375 degrees.

Bring the stock to a boil in a saucepan.

Place the rice on the bottom of the baking dish, making sure to make it level. Top the rice with the sea salt and coconut oil.

When the stock comes to a boil, pour it over the rice.

Quickly cover the baking dish tightly with a layer of parchment paper and then aluminum foil. Make sure that it's a tight fit, as you want the rice to steam, and if it's not tight then the stock will evaporate. Note: You can just use aluminum foil to cover your rice, but as I said in an earlier post, aluminum foil is known to leach aluminum into food, so it's best to use a layer of parchment as a barrier when cooking with aluminum foil. I know the foil isn't touching the rice here, but there will condensation which can drop from the foil into the rice. In my opinion it's better to be safe than sorry, but that's just me being anal, so it's really up to you!

Bake the covered rice in the pre heated 375 degree oven on the middle rack for exactly 1 HOUR! Do not check the rice, just set your timer for 1 hour and walk away. Pull the rice out of the oven, remove the parchment and foil, fluff the rice up with a fork and serve it up!

The rice will cook up perfectly if you followed the above instructions. I've done this method 10 times and my rice cooks up perfectly every time! That's why I LOVE it so much!

Notes

I tried baking the rice in my large dutch oven with a layer of parchment paper in-between the lid and the pan, and it turned out ok, but not as good as using the smaller glass baking dish. The rice wasn't as fluffy. If you use an oven proof pan, make sure to use one with a tight-fitting lid.

You can also use Ghee or Olive oil in place of the coconut oil. I just love the flavor the coconut oil give to the rice! Yum!

If you use white rice, you will have to check it at 50-55 minutes, as white rice cooks faster than brown rice.

Comments

Yes, you can totally double it up. I️ do so all the time. 4 cups broth/stock or water, 2 cups rice, 2 tablespoons coconut oil, as 1 teaspoon salt! Put it in a larger baking dish (13×9), bake at same temp and length! Super easy! You will love this rice. Amazing!

Hi Marin
I made it according to the instructions with short grain brown rice but after an hour it wasn’t cooked and there was still stock left. As I’d timed the fish and veg to be ready at the same time it wasn’t very edible which was disappointing. I’m thinking it could have done with another half an hour?

I’m so sorry! I’ve double batched the recipe dozens of times and it always bakes up the same. Was the stock boiling when you added it to the rice? Did you seal the rice tightly with the foil/parchment? I also always reset the temp for the oven after I put something in as you can loose heat when opening the oven. That’s been a useful trick for me. Maybe cook the rice for 1 hour and 10-15 min next time and then take it out? Also, the liquid sometimes needs to settle into the rice for a few minutes after taking it out. Different ovens cook things at different rates, so maybe you need to just cook the rice longer in your oven. I also use a glass baking dish, so maybe that has something to do with why my rice is always done in an hour. The biggest component with baking is to bake until the product is ready and that can vary based on so many different things. So don’t always go by the time when first trying something, get to know your oven etc. I always gage by a recipe, but it’s not always exact. I hope that helps and again, I’m sorry that your rice didn’t come out as planned.

Hi Mama.
I haven’t tried this recipe yet but I’m going to share with you the ultimate and easy Fluffy Brown Rice recipe from “Cooking with the Right Side of the Brain,” a vegetarian cookbook given to me by my best friend back in the 90s. No salt, no fat, only 35 minutes and so delicious.
Take a heavy bottomed pot with a tight fitting lid and add 1 c of brown rice (dry). Turn the heat to high and, at the same time set 2 c water or broth to a boil in a separate pan or in the micro. Dry fry the rice, stirring or swirling the pan constantly as the heat kicks in to prevent burning and as you begin to hear the rice popping. This should take about 5 min.
Make sure your cooktop vent is on and you use an oven mitt as you pour the hot liquid over the rice — it will sputter and spit like mad. Once it settles down a bit, stir once then cover the pot, turn the heat to low and WALK AWAY. Do not look at that rice no matter how much it calls to you. Set timer for 35 mins.
When time is up, lift lid, stir and see if all liquid has been absorbed. You may need to give another minute or, if timed right, you’ll enjoy the best, fluffiest, easiest to prepare brown rice.
Add butter, salt, sauces to taste.

In the instructions it says bake 1hr. Then it says remove foil after 1hr fluff and eat. Do you mean cool for one hr? So your rice is ready after 2 hrs? That’s a long time. Or were you just repeating the same one hr that was from baking time?

Hi Stephanie! First off, you’re adorable and you’re absolutely right that there’s no thing as a dumb question. I have to remind myself that at school all of the time, and what I’ve discovered is that most people have the same question as me, but were too afraid to ask, so my new motto is to ask, ask, ask! I really appreciate you bringing this up, because I’m sure other people were confused as well, and when I went back and re-read the post, I could see where that confusion would be, so I changed the wording and hopefully made it clearer.

I love when readers let me know when something is not clear, as I can then see it through a different lens! To answer your question, no, you do not need to let the rice sit out for an addition hour. You can take the foil and parchment off when you pull the rice out of the oven, fluff it with a fork, and then serve it up! Thanks again for your question girl! I hope you make and enjoy this rice! I make it up all the time and it’s so easy! xoxo, Jacquelyn

I am trying this tonight! Usually I use a rice cooker which is crazy because cooking rice should be easy and it isn’t.
And going to bake up some sweet potatoes. It is 14 degrees here in Michigan- I must be craving warm, comforting carbs today!
Thanks.

wow that is a taste sensation, we eat it a lot but this way it literally melts in your mouth -yummo! We had ours with pan fried squid rings and bok choi served with soy/vinegar/fish sauce/sugar dipping sauce. That was my first time cleaning whole squid, removing the skin and insides and slicing it was really easy and felt good!! Just thinking about you at cooking school maybe having to do that 🙂

Hi Sally! AWESOME! I love that you made the rice and LOVED it. A few of my friends are like, brown rice, what’s the big deal, but then they try it with the coconut oil and they are totally surprised! Ha. I love that you cooked up and fried some squid and even cleaned and cut the whole squid. You rock girl! I know, it’s sort of gross when you think about it, but then when you actually do it, it’s not so gross and pretty easy! At first I was only going to clean and cut one squid because I thought it was going to be so gross and all, but then when I realized how easy it was, (and they don’t have a smell, which totally helps) I ended up doing 10 squids. Anyway, thanks for sharing it all, I really love hearing about what readers are cooking up in the kitchen. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving girl! xoxo, Jacquelyn

This rice is a no brainer make at least once a week dish. I made it with “Imagine brand no chicken broth” instead of stock and it turned out amazing! The coconut oil makes it taste so buttery. My daughter went back for 3 servings.

Yaay! I’m so happy to hear that you made and loved the baked brown rice. I’m also happy to hear that you enjoyed the coconut oil infused in the rice. I really do think it adds such a buttery flavor and helps with the texture of the rice as well! 🙂 xoxo, Jacquelyn

I have a really hard question for you that I genuinely need help with. I am recently recovering from breast cancer. I am under the understanding that barbecued foods are less healthy then oven baked and that barbecuing is actually cancer causing. Can you please help me separate fact from fiction on this topic?

Hi Amy! First off, I want to say I’m so happy to hear that you beat breast cancer and are now in recovery! My best friend is going through chemo now and it’s heartbreaking. One of the reasons I’m attending natural chef school is to be able to truly understand nutrition and help to heal people through food. I don’t know the specifics on grilled foods, but I do know that grilling can char, blacken and overcook meats and the blackened areas are carcinogenic, and that’s not great to eat. I think baking, braising or boiling are much safer methods, be sure not to overcook the meat though, as that’s not good either.

I also know that it’s all about moderation when it comes to food and cooking styles, and the one thing I’m learning is to not go to any extremes one way or the other. Enjoy food in moderation. If you eat something that is healthy, but are gagging at the same time, then your body will look at that food as being bad for you, even though it’s good for you. It’s the same way if you’re eating something not so healthy, like french fries, but you’re loving them and happily chowing them down, your body will look at the french fries as not being so bad for you. It’s pretty cool how our mind works! I will ask my teachers about your specific question and get back to you.

I did find this article that you might want to take a look at, http://www.integrativecanceranswers.com/grilled-foods-contain-cancer-causing-chemicals/carcinogenic Just know this, there is so much out on the internet, some of it’s true, and some of it’s not true. I mean we were always told that salt is bad for you when in fact it’s something your body needs, like water. We’ve just been consuming refined table salt (which is bad) not the unrefined salt which has all the minerals in it that’s great for our body (celtic sea salt). Also, be sure to get more turmeric into your diet. It’s not proven but studies show that curcumin (which in is turmeric) has anticancer effects. It seems to be able to kill cancer cells and prevent more from growing. Anyway, I will be sure to share with you more as I learn more and get back to you on your specific question. Sending you some white healing light girl! xoxo, Jacquelyn